Mezmer said:
And no, cutting meat out of your diet completely is not and never will be healthy. To survive we need a balance of meat and plants in our diet.
Then why am I, and the vast population of vegetarians and vegans on the planet not dead? Is the American Dietetic Association [http://www.eatright.org/Media/content.aspx?id=1233&terms=vegetarian] wrong?
ADA said:
It is the position of the American Dietetic Association that appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. Well-planned vegetarian diets are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life-cycle including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood and adolescence and for athletes.
...
Vegetarian diets are often associated with health advantages including lower blood cholesterol levels, lower risk of heart disease, lower blood pressure levels and lower risk of hypertension and type 2 diabetes, according to ADA?s position. Vegetarians tend to have a lower body mass index and lower overall cancer rates. Vegetarian diets tend to be lower in saturated fat and cholesterol and have higher levels of dietary fiber, magnesium and potassium, vitamins C and E, folate, carotenoids, flavonoids and other phytochemicals. These nutritional differences may explain some of the health advantages of those following a varied, balanced vegetarian diet.
So the ADA thinks that not only is it perfectly healthy to not eat meat, but that it provides "health benefits" that omnivorous diets don't? There you go.
But you seem to know otherwise. What isn't the ADA telling me, Mezmer?
You feel bad because we're killing animals? Don't. Because out in the wild, those animals would be nothing but prey for predators. Dying in a slaughter house sounds just as bad as being chased down by a pack of wolves and having your throat ripped out.
They could run. Can you run in a cage?
crudus said:
Both have been known to eat meat though. Hippos more so than gorillas(Hippos have even been known to be cannibalistic).
This is probably true that on very rare occasions their diets will slightly vary. I think they are technically both herbivores, though. They certainly don't have those big long canines for eating meat. Because having canines does not make necessarily make one a meat-eater. That was the point I was trying to make.